Nora Roberts started the In the Garden trilogy late in 2004. I read and really enjoyed Blue Dahlia and Black Rose, the first two books in the series, and have been looking forward to getting the last book, Red Lily. The trilogy deals with a ghost that has been haunting the Harper family house for over 100 years.

Since Red Lily is the third and final book of the trilogy and is closely connected to the other books, I want to briefly provide some background information. Each book has had a different plot while still being connected by the ghost aspect of the overall story. The books would make more sense if they are read in order. Some things I mention in this review could be spoilers for the first two books.

Blue Dahlia took the time to introduce all the characters who would eventually become main characters and set up the ghost aspect of the book. Roz Harper owned the Harper House and she had started a nursery, In the Garden, on the grounds. Her family had owned the house for years. Ever since she was a child, she had heard stories about the Harper Bride, a ghost that haunted the house. The ghost tended to only appear to children and sing to them. Roz had also seen the ghost when her own children were young. Harper Ashby, one of Roz’s sons, lived in the carriage house and worked at the nursery, usually working with grafts to create new plants. Roz hired Stella to be the manager of the nursery and Stella and her two sons moved into Harper House. Hayley, a young pregnant woman, who was distantly related to Roz’s first husband, arrived at the house and Roz gave her a job in the nursery and let her live at the house. The three women became good friends. David, a childhood friend of Harpers, ran the house. The ghost started to sing to Stella’s children and became very upset when Stella started to date Logan, a landscaper that worked for Roz. The women decided they were going to try to figure out who the ghost had been and Roz hired a genealogist, Dr. Mitchell Carnegie, to help with the project. The ghost did let them know that her name was Amelia.

Stella and Logan got married during Black Rose, the second book. Roz and Mitch became the main characters as they worked together to try to figure out why Amelia was haunting Harper House. Hayley and her baby Lily were still at Harper House. Hayley and Harper seemed to remain clueless about the feelings they had for each other. Roz and Mitch began a relationship even though she was wary about getting involved because of how badly her second marriage had worked out. They continued working to discover how Amelia was connected to the Harper family and why she was haunting the house. Amelia was very unhappy about Roz getting involved with Mitch and she started to get more violent. They did discover more about Amelia and what had happened to her.

Red Lily picked up in June just as Roz and Mitch were getting home from their honeymoon. Hayley was still struggling with her feelings for Harper, believing that he just saw her as a friend. He continued to think that she thought of him as a brother. Hayley talked to Stella and did something to see just how Harper would react. Hayley had feelings for him, but was going to lie to him about it because of something Amelia did. Hayley was afraid that Harper would be hurt. She and Harper worked things out and started a relationship, spending time away from the grounds of the house and Amelia. Hayley was having some very strange dreams and seemed to be possessed by Amelia at times. More was learned about Amelia and they developed an idea about how to get the ghost to leave them all alone.

The In the Garden trilogy had six main characters and a few minor characters like David. Each book had two different main characters while the other four would be more in the background. Hayley and Harper had their turn at being the main characters in Red Lily. Their relationship had been slowing building since they met for the first time though not many details were shared. Hayley was in more scenes of the book than Harper was and ended up being more developed. The same thing happened with the other female characters in the first two books. The men haven’t received as much attention as the women, though they didn’t seem to be flat. This has happened in other trilogies that Nora Roberts has written. I do think Harper was slightly more developed than the other male characters in the series. Harper seemed to have a little more to do in the books that he wasn’t a main character in. Mitch was only in the very end of Blue Dahlia and Logan seemed to mostly disappear from the second and third books. I love that the same group of characters was in all the books, though I would have liked it if some of the characters were around a bit more, especially in the books they were minor characters.

Each book in the trilogy has dealt with the group trying to learn more about the ghost. The first two books provided some answers to what was going on with the ghost, like her name being Amelia and how she was connected to the Harper family, while still leaving other things to be discovered in the last book. All three books had a short prologue that took place when Amelia was still alive that did provide a small amount of information about what had happened to her. As the trilogy progressed, Amelia got more aggressive with what she was doing to try to discourage the women from having romantic relationships. In Red Lily, she moved on to actually possessing Hayley. During some of the times that happened, Hayley was able to see an event from Amelia’s life which helped to answer more questions. It was discovered what ultimately happened to Amelia that way. The mystery aspect was focused on Amelia and what happened to her. That did provide some suspense in a few scenes without making this an extremely suspenseful book. I thought that part of the book was very interesting.

Roz and Harper both remembered seeing Amelia around the house when they were children. Roz also remembered seeing her when her sons were children. Amelia tended to just visit any children in the house and spend time singing to them. She seemed to be protective of children and got furious if she thought a mother was choosing a man ahead of her children. In the first two books, Amelia mostly communicated to Stella and Roz by influencing their dreams. In Red Lily, Hayley had strange dreams, but she was also possessed by Amelia. That did allow other characters to attempt to talk to Amelia. Hayley was very connected to Amelia, which did impact other areas of her life. The ghost did add a supernatural element to the plot that I really enjoyed. I would have liked it if that part of the book received more attention. This isn’t the first book, or even first trilogy, that Nora Roberts has written that has included some form of the supernatural. People that don’t like to read about those things shouldn’t read this book.

Roz’s nursery was once again an important part of the book. Hayley started working there after she moved to Harper House. She loved the work, though she didn’t know as much about flowers as Roz, Harper, or Stella. Hayley was interested and learning more about gardening all the time. Harper started showing her how to do grafts which she really enjoyed. Harper explained the steps in the process to Hayley, which also let readers know what was going on. I love having flowers though I don’t know much beyond the basics of gardening. I had no idea how grafting worked before reading about it in Red Lily even though I had heard of it before. Other things that Harper did around the nursery were also shared. I thought the gardening part of the book was very interesting. Other people could be bored by those parts. The gardening was mentioned several times without distracting from the main focus of the book.

Harper and Hayley met early in the first book and their relationship slowly developed over the course of the books. I remember thinking that they would be put together before I even finished the first book. They both were convinced that they were the only ones with feelings. Hayley was worried that Amelia would hurt Harper, which did add some complications to their growing relationship. They did become intimate and shared some sexual scenes. Those scenes were descriptive without being graphic. The book wasn’t loaded down with sex scenes. There were some scenes that had Hayley and Harper together in bed either just before or after that didn’t describe the actual act. I really don’t think the scenes would be offensive to anyone. The relationship between Harper and Hayley was important to the book without distracting from the parts dealing with Amelia or becoming the main focus.

Nora Roberts also writes the In Death series as J.D. Robb. The books in that series are set in the future and feature the same group of returning characters. The main character, Eve Dallas, is a homicide detective and each book focuses on a different case she is working on. I have read and enjoyed all of those books. The In Death books tend to have stronger mysteries and sometimes be more violent than the books she writes as Nora Roberts. Fans of Nora Roberts may also enjoy the In Death books since the same person did write them both. There is one book, Remember When, that started in the present and then the second half took place in the future with Eve getting involved.

Red Lily was an enjoyable, entertaining conclusion to the In the Garden trilogy. This is a must read book for anyone that has read the first two books in the series. Fans of books by Nora Roberts will more than likely enjoy this one as well.

In the Garden Trilogy
~ Blue Dahlia ~ Black Rose ~ Red Lily ~

Nora Roberts Book Reviews
Reflections ~ Dance of Dreams ~ Hidden Star ~ Captive Star ~ Secret Star ~ Night Shift ~ Night Shadow ~ Night Smoke ~ Night Shield ~ Cordina's Crown Jewel ~ Cordina's Royal Family ~ Once More With Feeling ~ Midnight Bayou ~ Three Fates ~ The Villa ~ Sweet Revenge ~ Genuine Lies ~ Chesapeake Blue ~ Birthright ~ Engaging the Enemy ~ Remember When ~ Northern Lights ~ Blue Smoke ~ Dance Upon the Air ~ Heaven & Earth ~ Face the Fire ~ Key of Light ~ Key of Knowledge ~ Key of Valor ~



Recommended: Yes